31. According to the 1913 abstracted paper, Haber, op. cit. (note 15), the vapour
pressure of the liquid ammonia was slightly higher than the tables indicated,
and so returning the ‘remainder gas’ to the contact substance meant that the
presence of residual ammonia affected the equilibrium yield slightly.
32. Removal of any water was important. If it entered the cooling apparatus it
would form ice which blocked the valves. It also affected some catalysts and
the equilibrium.
33. Today we know that osmium is in the same ‘transition metal group’ as iron.
But Haber and Le Rossignol were not experts in catalysis and this confounded their progress. Their understanding—exemplified by their papers—
was that pure substances made the best catalysts. In the event, mixtures were
found to be more effective.
34. Stoltzenberg, op. cit. (note 5), p. 87, Johannes Jaenicke in conversation with
Max Meyer, 09 November 1958. MPG, Dept. Va, Rep. 5.
35. Stoltzenberg, op. cit. (note 5), p. 87, Johannes Jaenicke in conversation with
Hermann Staudinger. MPG, Dept. Va, Rep. 5.
36. Smil, op. cit. (note 14), p. 80.
37. Smil, op. cit. (note 14), p. 86, his reference no. 11.
38. Stoltzenberg, op. cit. (note 5), p. 88.
39. United States Patent Office. Serial numbers 512,679 and 512,680.
40. Timothy Lenoir, Instituting Science. The Cultural Production of Scientific
Disciplines. Stanford University Press, (1997). ISBN 0-8047-2042-6. One
anecdote from Lenoir, (p. 230, his ref. 49) is that Bosch apparently ‘told
Haber and Le Rossignol that he didn’t need to see the conclusion of the
demonstration; he knew it would work …’ Although this is not corroborated
by Le Rossignol’s 1928 paper, Le Rossignol, op. cit. (note 10), it may have
been an extension of his feelings from his earlier visit to Haber’s laboratory on
26 March 1909. (Chap. 8).
41. Smil, op. cit. (note 14), p. 81, his reference, no, 72; Fritz Haber, (1909).
A letter to the directors of the BASF, 03 July 1909. ‘BASF
Unternehmensarchiv, Fritz Haber, Allgemeine Correspondenz II’, (BASF
Corporate Archive, Fritz Haber, General Correspondence II), no 92.
42. Stoltzenberg, op. cit. (note 5), p. 89.
43. An observation taken from J. E. Coates’ ‘Haber Memorial Lecture’. Coates
was a student of Haber and a contemporary of Le Rossignol, and on 29 April
1937 he delivered the Haber Memorial Lecture before the Chemical Society.
(J. E. Coates, ‘The Haber Memorial Lecture’, J. Chem. Soc., 1642–1672,
(1939)).
44. F. Haber and R Le Rossignol, ‘Über der Dissociation der Kohlensäure in der
Kohlenoxydknallgasflamme’, (The dissociation of carbon dioxide in the
carbon monoxide flame), Z. Phys. Chem., 66, 181–196, (1909). See also
Haber’s Hurter Memorial Lecture, op. cit. (note 23), p. 5.
8 The Big Fix …
183
pressure of the liquid ammonia was slightly higher than the tables indicated,
and so returning the ‘remainder gas’ to the contact substance meant that the
presence of residual ammonia affected the equilibrium yield slightly.
32. Removal of any water was important. If it entered the cooling apparatus it
would form ice which blocked the valves. It also affected some catalysts and
the equilibrium.
33. Today we know that osmium is in the same ‘transition metal group’ as iron.
But Haber and Le Rossignol were not experts in catalysis and this confounded their progress. Their understanding—exemplified by their papers—
was that pure substances made the best catalysts. In the event, mixtures were
found to be more effective.
34. Stoltzenberg, op. cit. (note 5), p. 87, Johannes Jaenicke in conversation with
Max Meyer, 09 November 1958. MPG, Dept. Va, Rep. 5.
35. Stoltzenberg, op. cit. (note 5), p. 87, Johannes Jaenicke in conversation with
Hermann Staudinger. MPG, Dept. Va, Rep. 5.
36. Smil, op. cit. (note 14), p. 80.
37. Smil, op. cit. (note 14), p. 86, his reference no. 11.
38. Stoltzenberg, op. cit. (note 5), p. 88.
39. United States Patent Office. Serial numbers 512,679 and 512,680.
40. Timothy Lenoir, Instituting Science. The Cultural Production of Scientific
Disciplines. Stanford University Press, (1997). ISBN 0-8047-2042-6. One
anecdote from Lenoir, (p. 230, his ref. 49) is that Bosch apparently ‘told
Haber and Le Rossignol that he didn’t need to see the conclusion of the
demonstration; he knew it would work …’ Although this is not corroborated
by Le Rossignol’s 1928 paper, Le Rossignol, op. cit. (note 10), it may have
been an extension of his feelings from his earlier visit to Haber’s laboratory on
26 March 1909. (Chap. 8).
41. Smil, op. cit. (note 14), p. 81, his reference, no, 72; Fritz Haber, (1909).
A letter to the directors of the BASF, 03 July 1909. ‘BASF
Unternehmensarchiv, Fritz Haber, Allgemeine Correspondenz II’, (BASF
Corporate Archive, Fritz Haber, General Correspondence II), no 92.
42. Stoltzenberg, op. cit. (note 5), p. 89.
43. An observation taken from J. E. Coates’ ‘Haber Memorial Lecture’. Coates
was a student of Haber and a contemporary of Le Rossignol, and on 29 April
1937 he delivered the Haber Memorial Lecture before the Chemical Society.
(J. E. Coates, ‘The Haber Memorial Lecture’, J. Chem. Soc., 1642–1672,
(1939)).
44. F. Haber and R Le Rossignol, ‘Über der Dissociation der Kohlensäure in der
Kohlenoxydknallgasflamme’, (The dissociation of carbon dioxide in the
carbon monoxide flame), Z. Phys. Chem., 66, 181–196, (1909). See also
Haber’s Hurter Memorial Lecture, op. cit. (note 23), p. 5.
8 The Big Fix …
183